"But people on both the left and the right have found things they approve of in Kasich's spending plan, and things they can't support...Keary McCarthy is the President/CEO of the progressive policy think tank Innovation Ohio."

"I respond to the Sunday Dispatch editorial "Fight with Trump is a risk for the city." The opinion that Columbus risks federal funds by providing some legal support for immigrants and examining what it means to become a sanctuary city misses the mark on so many levels..."
-Janetta King
President
Innovation Ohio

"An early Innovation Ohio analysis of the proposals shows that while the K-12 education funding line will get about $200 million more next biennium as was touted by the governor, they'll see larger decreases through other policies."

"Keary McCarthy, president of the liberal advocacy group Innovation Ohio, said the proposed sales-tax increase and reduction of income-tax brackets "will have a negative impact on the poor and working-class families." Income-tax cuts are less valuable to poorer families because they pay little if any income taxes anyway, but they would pay the higher sales tax on many purchases, he said."

“In many respects, the heartbeat bill was a decoy that diverted attention from the very egregious 20-week ban that he ended up signing into law,” says Keary McCarthy, executive director of Innovation Ohio, a Columbus-based think tank.

“It used to be a conservative principle that the government that’s closest to you is the government that can govern best. But that’s not the case here in Ohio,” McCarthy said. “There’s been a significant erosion of local control here over the years. Frankly, if the federal government did to the state what states do to the cities, the very same folks that just passed this law would be outraged.”

"Keary McCarthy, president of left-leaning Innovation Ohio and a former House Democrat staffer, said rushing through bills can be problematic.
"When things are done really quickly it makes it very difficult for a thorough vetting of law changes," McCarthy said."

“If instead of improving Obamacare he decides to dismember it, nearly tens of thousands of low income Ohioans will lose access to health care through Medicaid and it will be next to impossible for uninsured individuals with pre-existing conditions to access any health care at all,” he said."

“It could very much affect Ohio’s working relationship with the federal government and that could be detrimental to the state, not just at the state level but trickling all the way down to the local level,” McCarthy said."

Keary McCarthy, president of the liberal policy group Innovation Ohio, questioned the reasoning for the bill. “This bill would fundamentally shift the balance of power in Ohio and send a chilling message to state agencies that challenge privately run, publicly funded companies like ECOT,” he said, referring to the online charter school.

"As for benefits to the community overall, Walters points to a recent study by think-tank Innovation Ohio, which reported that countries with paid family leave see a reduction in employee absenteeism as well as a 10 percent reduction in infant mortality rates. The United States is one of only a handful of industrialized nations without paid parental leave as a standard."

"Earlier this year, Innovation Ohio, a progressive think tank, and the Ohio Education Association issued a report that contained this shocking revelation: $30 million from the federal government was spent on 92 charter schools in Ohio that either closed or failed to open."

"A report by a collaboration of the liberal Innovation Ohio group and the Ohio Education Association found that of the 292 charter schools that got federal Charter School Program grants since 2006, 37 percent had closed or never opened. More than 40 percent of those schools were sponsored by traditional school districts."

"A 2016 report titled “Belly Up: A Review of Federal Charter School Program Grants” to Ohio, found a dismal record. The report was done by the Ohio Charter School Accountability Project, a joint venture of the Ohio Education Association and the policy think tank Innovation Ohio."

"Stephen Dyer, education fellow with the Innovation Ohio think tank, said Mr. Trump “selected a chronically failing, for-profit one run by a Republican who is more adept at making money than educating kids.”

The school lags behind the much larger and more geographically and socioeconomically diverse Cleveland public schools on Overall Student Growth — a key indicator that measures students’ overall academic improvement, according to Innovation Ohio

"I'm sure you've seen by now that Donald Trump is scheduled to visit the Cleveland Arts and Social Sciences Academy today," said former state representative Steve Dyer, now a researcher for the union-aligned Innovation Ohio think tank. "I assume it's to argue for charter school efficacy. However, this school received an F in student growth last year. Cleveland Municipal Schools got a C. "

"The Cleveland schools have made several gains since passing a major tax increase and school improvement plan in 2012, a new report by the left-leaning Innovation Ohio said today, but the district still has several challenges."

"Our General Assembly exercises considerable influence over the mapmaking process – influence it is reluctant to relinquish. This is a disservice to Ohioans. The need for swift reform is more important than ever. For the first time in our state’s modern history, one party has controlled the drawing of congressional maps for consecutive cycles."

"For reform of the city school district to work, it needs commitment from the community and funding from the state, an education fellow at a public policy think tank says.

“Obviously, the big challenge is funding,” said Stephen Dyer, education policy fellow with Innovation Ohio. “The Ohio Constitution says school funding is the state’s responsibility, not the local district’s. If the state insists on this radical new school governance, the least they can do is send the funding to do it.”

"Paid family leave is an issue getting both state and national attention this election year. The debate over the possibility of providing paid leave and its strengths, to both the family and workplace, continue to be contested."

Innovation Ohio, a progressive policy group, will deliver an online petition later this week to Cleveland, where the RNC is set to begin its four-day event on Monday. The petition, posted on change.org as part of MTV's Elect This campaign to engage young voters, has more than 50,000 signatures.

A collection of advocates gathered to call on the Republican and Democratic national conventions to support a plan to give new mothers and fathers at least 12 weeks paid leave. This can also be for other family emergencies.

"I'm a small business owner. I did the math and I know having a paid leave policy is the right thing to do," said Heather Whaling, the founder of Geben Communications in Downtown Columbus. "It's good for business. It helps us attract and retain top talent."

Arguing it's embarrassing that the United States stands apart from other developed counties with a lack of paid parental leave, groups are pushing the Republican National Convention Platform Committee to include it.

"Petition backers Innovation Ohio, a Columbus think-tank aligned with Democrats, and the National Partnership for Women and Families plan to deliver the petition to GOP platform drafters meeting this week in Cleveland."

“Our state Legislature has the power and the responsibility to create policies that help establish a pathway to economic security for women and families in Ohio,” said Erin Ryan, development director of Innovation Ohio Education Fund, which also convened the new group. “Unfortunately, the Women’s Public Policy Network Scorecard results demonstrate that our current lawmakers failed to take substantive action on policy goals that would do just that.”

"I think it's important as we build relations (with lawmakers) to ensure these issues are family issues, economic issues," Innovation Ohio Development Director Erin Ryan said. "Women's issues are not in a silo. They impact families and the economy."

"Innovation Ohio, a think-tank that is aligned with Democrats and has strong ties to Strickland, will release a report today that calls attention to Portman's job running the Office of Budget and Management in President George W. Bush's administration."

Last week, Innovation Ohio, a progressive policy think tank, and the Ohio Education Association, a union representing teachers, issued a report that had this shocking conclusion: About $30 million from Washington was spent on 92 charter schools that either closed or failed to even open.

"Now is the time to consider raising the wage in Cleveland because far too many families are working but still struggling to escape poverty," said Innovation Ohio President Keary McCarthy in a news release. "Raising the minimum wage to $15 will increase consumer spending and boost the City's overall economic activity."

"According to Innovation Ohio, paid parental leave has multiple benefits. It strengthens women and families, reduces gender and economic disparities, improves critical health outcomes, has positive impacts on the local economy and creates a stronger and more productive workforce."

“To invalidate someone’s registration simply for the fact that they haven’t voted in six years is not what the National Voter Registration Act was intended to do and that’s why this lawsuit is so important,” said Innovation Ohio President Keary McCarthy.

“This bill is part of a national trend, a growing realization that the United States is so far behind the rest of the world on this critical issue,” said Keary McCarthy, president of progressive think tank Innovation Ohio. “We think offering this could be a huge savings to local businesses."

Innovation Ohio noted that Marietta’s struggles are typical of challenges faced by scores of communities across Ohio. Nearly 40 percent of Marietta kids live in poverty and the median household income is $10,000 below the statewide average. The Kasich administration budget cuts translate annually into almost $1 million less for the city of Marietta and $1.7 million less for Marietta schools, the group said.

"This is the most pro-life you can get when you're preventing infant mortality and promoting family and giving families the time they need to heal, to recover, to bond, and to care for each other," Boyd said. "They return to work differently. they return to work renewed, with a little less stress and some confidence they've gotten things under control at home."

"On the phone Wednesday, Hahn Burriss told NBC4 her organization has conducted national scientific opinion polls of small business owners about family leave. She said that when programs are employee-funded rather than employer-sponsored, the margin of support among small business owners increases."

"There’s been an opening at the Ohio Department of Education since the end of last year. But so far, it appears no one has applied to become the new state school superintendent. But state school board president Tom Gunlock says he's not worried. But there are those who think the lack of applicants is sending a strong message. Among them is Keary McCarthy, the president and CEO of Innovation Ohio, a progressive leaning think tank that researches state policy on education."

“The report pretty clearly shows the vast majority of money the state provides to charter schools is going to those that under-perform local school districts,” said Keary McCarthy, president of Innovation Ohio.

According to a 2014 study from Innovation Ohio, the jobs employers added after the recession have largely been low-paying ones. “What’s clear is that the recovery that we’ve seen in Ohio is leaving far too many working and middle-class families behind,” said Keary McCarthy, head of Innovation Ohio.

"Innovation Ohio has estimated that since charter schools first opened in Ohio in the late '90s, $1.8 billion of the $7.3 billion the state has spent on the sector has gone to schools run by Lager and Brennan - or $1 out of every $4 spent."

"According to Innovation Ohio, traditional public schools, which educate 90 percent of Ohio’s kids, are receiving $515 million less state funding than before Kasich took office. Local school levies have been increasing as a result."

“It does strike the right balance between stiffening the criminal penalties for very serious cases of abuse for a defenseless child and the discretion of a prosecutor or a judge to make the right decisions at the local level,” said Keary McCarthy, the president/CEO of Innovation Ohio.

“There has to be greater impartiality at the Department of Education]to ensure that charter schools are held to the same level of accountability that all other schools in the state of Ohio are,” said Innovation Ohio's Keary McCarthy.

“There is simply no reason in Ohio that we should be rescinding a lawfully registered voter from the voter rolls simply because they have not participated in an election,” said Keary McCarthy, president of the liberal advocacy group Innovation Ohio.

"To understand just how the state’s current structure of funding charter schools has led to financial hardships for many districts, Stephen Dyer, Innovation Ohio education policy fellow, said taxpayers only need to follow the money."

A special presentation was given by Stephen Dyer, education policy fellow, Innovation Ohio, on funding and its impact on public schools in Ohio at the Portage Lakes Career Center (PLCC) board of education meeting.

“Will that economic growth be tightly concentrated or broadly shared?” McCarthy asked those in attendance. “When you look at the history of free trade agreements over the last 20 years, I think it’s hard to make the argument that free trade agreements lead to broad based prosperity for the American domestic labor market.”

Keary McCarthy, president of Innovation Ohio, said the funding structure creates “tremendous animosity” between traditional public schools and charters. “We need to figure out a better way to do it,” he said, noting that direct funding would increase transparency.

"Just a week after Dayton announced it will offer paid parental leave to city employees, Cincinnati may be doing the same. The program has the same roots as the one announced last week in Dayton. Both cities are working with Innovation Ohio."

"With today's announcement of Dayton's first-ever paid parental leave policy, the city aligns itself with many thriving private-sector companies such as Microsoft and Netflix that just this month announced similar policies," said Innovation Ohio President Keary McCarthy. "Top companies are providing paid parental leave because they know that doing so improves employee retention, job satisfaction, productivity and it helps attract top talent."

"Innovation Ohio, the Ohio Education Association and officials from Woodridge Schools said recent budget legislation provides increased state support for charters, subsidizing failing locations while taking needed funds from public schools."

“While the wealthy few get ahead, Ohio women and families are falling behind,” said Keary McCarthy, president and CEO of Innovation Ohio, in the report . “We need economic and workplace policies, such as paid family leave and sick days and increasing the minimum wage.”

Under his watch, funding for traditional public schools — which enroll 90 percent of Ohio’s students — declined by some half a billion dollars, while funding for charter schools has increased at least 27 percent, with charters now receiving more public funds from the state per student than traditional public schools, according to the advocacy group Innovation Ohio.

"Innovation Ohio calls on the governor and General Assembly to apply revenue from Mr. Kasich’s proposed increases in the state cigarette and commercial activities taxes to school aid rather than an income tax cut. “With this revenue,” the report says, “the state would need to develop a new funding formula that would more accurately reflect the cost of a high-quality education.”"